Libyan delegates gathered in Tunisia under the auspices of the UN have reached an agreement providing for
"national elections"
in Libya in thirteen months, the acting UN envoy, Stephanie Williams, announced on Friday.
"The participants in the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum have agreed on the organization of national elections on December 24, 2021,"
Stephanie Williams told a virtual press conference.
Read also: Libya: two shipwrecks kill more than 100 in one day
This is the first result of discussions underway in Tunis since Monday between 75 delegates from all sides chosen by the UN, to try to get Libya out of the conflicts which have torn it apart since the fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. These delegates are responsible for agreeing on the organization of elections but also on a unified executive.
Several experts have warned of the difficulty for the delegates meeting in Tunis to impose their legitimacy and have their decisions recognized in the face of elected leaders who are very reluctant in elections.
But Stephanie Williams assured that the balance was against supporters of the "status quo".
Among the 75 delegates gathered in Tunis are 13 representatives of the High Council of State - the equivalent of a senate - based in Tripoli alongside the Government of National Union (GNA), and 13 of the elected Parliament whose president supports Marshal Haftar, strongman of the East, rival of the GNA.
"The international community has tools to prevent sabotage, including the use of sanctions,"
Stephanie Williams warned Friday.
